Welt attaching machines



Dec. 18, 1962 L. G. MILLER WELT ATTACHING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Feb. 28 1961 Invenfor I floydQ/Yzller Dec. 18, 1962 G. MILLER WELTATTACHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 28, 1961 Dec. 18, 1962 L.e. MlLLER WELT ATTACHING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 28, 1961Dec. 18, 1962 L. G. MILLER WELT ATTACHING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Feb. 28, 1961 United rates Patent 01 3,%S,815 WELT AITACHENG MACSLloyd G. Miller, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Feb. 28,1961, Ser. No. 92,251 6 Claims. (Cl. 11246) This invention relatesgenerally to improvements in a machine for attaching welts to lastedshoe uppers and sole members, and has particular reference to a machinehaving mechanism for severing the welt and automatically stopping themachine after a predetermined interval.

The invention is illustrated herein as being applied to a Goodyear weltand inseam sewing machine equipped with a welt severing mechanism whichmay be actuated, in the case of a sewed heel seat shoe, by a feelerengaging the leading end of the welt first attached to the shoe, as theseam being inserted nears completion; or in the case of a shoe having awelt extending around the forepart only, may be actuated directly by theoperator when the welt attaching operation reaches the proper point atthe breast portion of the shoe.

A machine of this type is illustrated in United States Letters PatentNo. 2,900,933, granted August 25, 1959, to J. P. Carter, which should bereferred to for a description of certain parts or" the machine which areassociated with the mechanism embodying the invention to be describedhereinafter.

. During the attachment of a welt by a machine of this type, to aso-called sewed seat shoe, in which the welt extends completely aroundthe shoe periphery, after the welt has been cut in response to theengagement of the feeler with the leading end of the welt first attachedto the shoe, the operator permits the sewing operation to continue untilthe end of the welt is attached and several stitches are made beyond thepoint at which the ends of the welt abut. However, in the case of a shoein which the welt is attached only to the forepart portion of the shoeforward of the heel breast line, commonly referred to asbreast-to-breast work, the operator stops the attaching operation almostat the instant the welt is cut, thereby leaving the end portion of thewelt unattached for subsequent trimming operations.

Because of the accurate timing required in judging when to terminate thesewing operation after the welt has been cut, the operator of themachine must have considerable training to become proficient in itsproper operation. If the sewing is stopped too soon or too late, repairwork on the shoe is required, which is time consuming and expensive. Incase of thread breakage, it is also important that the machine bestopped immediately to prevent the needle from piercing threadless holesin the welt and innersole rib.

An object of this invention is to provide a machine of the typedescribed in which means is provided for stopping the sewing operationautomatically a predetermined time after the welt has been cut.

A further object of the invention is to provide means responsive to theactuation of the welt cutting knife for stopping the machine byreleasing the machine-actuating treadle mechanism independently of anyaction by the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for releasing themachine-actuating treadle mechanism which is actuated automatically byeither the action of the welt cutting knife or by thread breakage.

A further object of the invention is to provide automatic means forcontinuing the sewing operation for a predetermined interval after thewelt has been cut, with "ice means for varying said predeterminedinterval to accommodate either breast-to-breast work or sewed seat work.

(Ether objects of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in theart from the following detailed description of a specific embodimentthereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a Welt attaching machineembodying the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the operating head of the machine of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the treadle release mechanism of themachine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a thread break detecting mechanism;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the thread break detectingmechanism illustrated in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the machine controlling mechanisms andtheir associated electrical circuits.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a welt attaching machineit which is adapted to attach a welt 12 to the periphery of a lastedshoe 14 (see FIG. 2).

The machine 143 comprises an operating head 16 supported on a pedestal18, with an operator controlled foot treadle 2% for actuating themachine starting mechanism to be described hereinafter, and an operatorcontrolled knee pad or treadle 22 for arming the welt cut-01f mechanismand energizing the cut-ofi knife circuit as will appear hereinafter.

The operating head 16 is similar to that disclosed in theabove-identified patents, and has the usual stitch-forming, shoefeeding, and welt guiding devices, a welt severing knife 24, andmechanism for activating the knife. As described in said Patent No.2,900,933, the knife actuating mechanism includes a solenoid L-1, whichis energized when a feeler 26 supported on a carrier plate 28 is en--gaged by the end of the welt previously attached to the shoe, therebycausing the pin 30 to close switch 8-1. To avoid unintentional severingof the welt during the attaching operation, the switch 8-1 is in serieswith a normally open switch 8-2 which is closed by inward movement ofthe knee treadle 22 and the carrier plate is shifted to hold the feelerout of the range of shoe movement. The knee treadle 22 is also connectedthrough cable 32 to the carrier plate 23, so that it is not shifted tobring the feeler into the range of movement of the shoe until the kneetreadle is moved inwardly by the operator. Shifting the carrier plate,thus, moves the feeler into a position where it may be contacted by theend of the welt previously attached to the shoe.

As further described in the above-identified patents, the

operation of the welt attaching mechanism of the machine is controlledby a lock bolt 34 adapted to move into and out of engagement with anoscillating lever 36 controlling a clutch mechanism (not shown).Downward motion of the foot treadle 26 to start the machine disengagesthe' bolt 34 from its associated mechanism, and upward movement of thetreadle to terminate the seam causes the' .disclosed in theabove-identified patents, in fabricating a shoe of the sewed heel seattype, the shoe is first presented to the machine with a section alongthe shank.

as a starting point. The foot treadle 20 is depressed to commence thewelt attaching operation, which proceeds around the periphery of theshoe, with said shoe being guided by the operator. At this time theswitch 8-2 is open and the carrier is not shifted, so that the feeler 26is not in the actuating position. As the attaching operation nearscompletion, the operator, without releasing the foot treadle, depressesthe knee treadle, which renders the feeler operative, moves the feeler26 into position adjacent the shoe ahead of the attaching mechanism, andcloses the switch S2. As the attaching operation proeeeds, the feeler 26eventually is contacted by the leading end ofithe welt previouslyattached to the shoe, which closes'the switch 3? thereby actuating thewelt cutting knife. After the welt has been cut, the attaching operationcontinues until the short length of welt between the point of attachmentand the knife (usually about /2 inch) has been attached. The feeler isso positioned that the welt is cut to the proper length to enable thecut end, when attached, to reach and abut the leading end previouslyattached to the shoe, and the attaching operation permittedto continueacross the butt joint until about two stitches are inserted into saidleading end.

' To enable a machine of this type to attach a welt about only theforepart of a shoe, some other means must be provided for energizing theknife solenoid, since in such a case there is no welt end in position toengage the feeler.

Hence, when attaching a welt to this type of shoe it is customary toprovide other means to hold switch 8- in the closed position or aseparate switch in parallel therewith, actuatable by the operator, sothat when the operator depresses the knee treadle, closing switch 5-2,

* the cut-ofi knife is actuated immediately. In this case,

the operator must permit the machine to continue the sewing operationfor only about two stitches and then release the foot treadle to stopthe machine, so that proper length of the end of the welt is leftunattached for later trimming operations.

.As pointed out above, considerable skill is required on the part of theoperator to judge the proper instant to stop the machine, particularlyin view of the fact that the attaching operation proceeds at a rate ofabout 800 stitches per minute. For this reason the machine disclosedherein is provided with automatically actuated mechanism forstopping'the machine a predetermined time after the actuation of thewelt cut-oil knife,.with

j means for adjusting said time to suit the requirements of theparticular type of shoe being fabricated. Means is also provided foractuating the machine stopping mechanism in case of thread breakage orlooseness.

Referring to FIG. 6 of the drawing, there is schematically illustrated amachine having a starting and stopping mechanism which is adapted to beactuated by the operator, and auxiliary machine stopping connectionsactuated automatically by theaction of the welt cutting knifezd or by athread break detecting mechanism to be described hereinafter. g

The foot treadle 28 is connected to the lock bolt 34 by a linkage whichincludes a toggle 40 which is normally held in the straight or unbrokenposition by a spring 42 connected to the knee 44 of the toggle. When thefoot treadle 20.is depressed by the operator to start the welt attachingoperation, a lever 46 moves the toggle 4t and operating rod 48 upwardly,thereby drawing the bolt 34 out of engagement with the clutch lever 36.To energize the machine electrical circuits as the machine is started, amain switch 8-3 is positioned to be actuated by said 'movement of thebolt.

To provide for automatic actuation of the machine stopping connections,a linkage 50 is connected to the 4. the bolt 34 again to enter theclutch lever 36 and stop the machine, and also to open the switch 5-3,to tie-energize all the machine circuits.

The treadle solenoid L-Z may be energized by either the action of thecutting knife 24, or by the action of the thread detecting mechanism ina manner to appear hereinafter. 7

To provide for automatic actuation of the treadle solenoid at the end ofa sewing operation, the knife actuating solenoid armature may beprovided with a cam 52, which, on the cutting stroke of the knife, ispositioned to operate lever 54 to close momentarily the contacts ofnormally open switch 8-4. Switch 8-4, when closed, energ zes relay R-l,which closes a first pair of contacts (34 creating a holding circuit torelay R-1, and a second pair of contacts C-Z which energizes timingrelay TR2. After a predetermined time, which maybe varied as will appearhereinafter, the contacts (3-3 of the'timing relay close, therebyenergizing the solenoid L-2 and actuating'the mechanism previoulsydescribed for stopping the machine and opening the main switch 8-3 tothe control circuits. As previously described, when fabricating a shoeof the sewed seat type the welt isv cut otf about A: inch'from the pointof attachment. Hence, the timing relay TR-2, in such case, must permitthe operation of the machine to continue until this /2 inch length ofwelt has been attached, plus about two stitches across the welt joint.However, in the case of a shoe in which the welt is attached about theforepart only, it is desirable to leave an unattached end for subsequenttrimming operations, hence it is necessary that the machine be stoppedalmost immediately after the welt has been cut, with no more than abouttwo stitches being'applied after the instant of cut-ofi to leave thproper length at the end of the welt unattached.

Hence, the time delay relay TR-Z may be adjustable to provide twodifierent delay times, the duration of which will, of course, depend onthe sewing speed and stitch spacing of the particular machine. As aspecific example, a machine having a sewing speed of 800 stitches perminute anda stitch spacing of 4 stitches per inch Will require a delaytime of 300 milliseconds when attaching a welt to breast-to-breast Work,and a delay time of 150 milliseconds when attaching a welt to sewed seatwork.

Time delay relays capable of such adjustment are well known in the artand do not per se form part of the the control of the operator to enablehim to preselect the t a relay having the proper delay time for the typeofwork being operated on.

The machine stopping solenoid L-2 may also be actuated directly by aswitch S5 which is connected to the solenoid L2 through main switch S3.The switch S5' is positioned to be actuated by a mechanism 60 fordetecting a break or looseness in the thread.

. The mechanism 69 may conveniently be associated with a threadtensioning mechanism 62, which in the illustrated embodiment is of thetype disclosed in Patent No. 2,707,926, issued May 10, 1955, to O. R.Haas. As illustrated herein in FIG. 4 the thread tensioning mechanism 62includes a take-up lever 64 centrally pivoted to a frame portion 67 andhaving a thread engaging V,

pulley 66 at its forward end and a cam follower 68 at its rearward endengaging a cam track 70. The thread 72 passes from a supply reel over afriction wheel (not shown) in the manner described in theabove-mentioned Patent No. 2,707,926, under an idler pulley 74, over thetake-up lever pulley 66 and then downwardly to the sewing mechanism.

During the sewing operation the stitches are tightened by upwardmovement of the forward end of the take-up lever 64 at which time thefriction wheel has a heavy frictional force applied to it, so that theportion of the thread between the take-up lever pulley 66 and the idlerpulley 74 is under heavy tension. When the forward end of the lever 64moves downwardly frictional force on the tension wheel is relieved topermit the sewing mechanism to pull thread easily from the supply reel,and during this portion of the sewing cycle the portion of the threadbetween the take-up lever pulley 66 and the idler pulley 74 is not underany substantial tension.

To detect a thread break or thread looseness during the take-up portionof the cycle, a lever 76 which is pivoted at 77 to the machine frame isprovided with a roller 78 positioned to bear against the thread betweenthe take-up pulley and the idler pulley. The lever 76 is biased againstthe thread by a spring 80 attached to the end of a control arm 82extending from the lever near the pivot 77. The machine stop switch 8-5is disposed adjacent the end of the control arm 82 in position to beactuated by downward movement of the arm. During the take-up portion ofthe sewing cycle upward movement of the take-up lever pulley incooperation with the locking of the thread friction wheel causessufiicient tension in the thread to hold the lever 76 in the up positionagainst the force of the spring 80 so that the control arm does notcontact the switch S5. To prevent actuation of the switch S- during thenext portion of the sewing cycle, while the sewing mechanism is drawingthread from the supply wheel and the thread is not under substantialtension, a lever 84 pivoted to the main frame on an axle 85 is providedwith a detent roller 86 for cooperation with a recess 88 in the lowerside of the control arm 82. The recess 88, which is shaped to receivethe roller 86 under certain conditions, has a cam surface 89 disposed onthe forward side thereof. The axle 85 is provided with an operatinglever 90 on the opposite side of the frame portion 67 with said leverhaving a roller 92 on the forward end biased downwardly against theforward end of the take-up lever 64 by means of a spring 94. Upward anddownward movement of the take-up lever 64 during the sewing cyclethereby causes forward and backward movement of the lever 84. When thetake-up lever moves forwardly to apply tension to the thread the upwardmotion imparted to the forward end 92 of the operating lever 90 causesthe detent roller 86 to move in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 5so that it is positioned in the path of the recess 88 and the arm 76 isheld upwardly only by the thread 72. Hence, if the thread 72 breaksduring this portion of the cycle the lever 82 is pulled downwardly byspring 80 so that the control arm 82 strikes the switch S5 stopping themachine by energization of the solenoid L-2 in the manner previouslydescribed.

When the take-up lever 64 moves downwardly and the thread tension isreleased, the lever 84 moves in a counterclockwise direction (as seen inFIG. 5), so that the roller 86 rides under cam surface 89 on the controlarm, thereby preventing downward movement of the lever 76 which wouldotherwise result from the release of tension in the thread, andpreventing the switch S-5 from being operated during this portion of thecycle.

It will be understood that other means of detecting a thread break orlooseness may be utilized if desired.

The method of operation of the machine described herein is similar tothat previously described in connection with the machines of the priorart. In the attachment of a welt to a sewed seat shoe, when the knife 24is actuated by the engagement of the feeler 26 with the leading end ofthe welt no further action by the operator is required until the machinestops automatically in response to the action of the timing relay, afterwhich he may release the treadle and remove the shoe from the machine.

In the attachment of a welt in breast-to-breast work the operator mustjudge the proper moment to depress the knee treadle 22 (which, in thiscase, immediately actuates the knife). However, it is unnecessary forhim to release the foot treadle to stop the sewing operation to preventthe attachment of the welt end, since the machine is stoppedautomatically by the timing relay within about two stitches in themanner previously described.

Since certain obvious changes may be made in the device withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for attaching a length of strip material from acontinuous supply to an article, said machine having an operatorcontrolled starting and stopping mechanism and a strip cutting mechanismactuatable during the attaching operation to sever the attached portionof strip material from the continuous supply, the improvement comprisingauxiliary machine stopping connections, and means responsive to theactuation of said strip cutting mechanism for actuating said auxiliarymachine stopping connections.

2. A machine for attaching a length of welting from a continuous supplyto a partially fabricated shoe, said machine having an operatorcontrolled starting and stopping mechanism, a Welt cutting mechanismactuatable to sever the attached portion of the welting from thecontinuous supply, time delay means for actuating said machine stoppingmechanism, and means responsive to the operation of said welt cuttingmechanism for actuating said time delay means, whereby said machine isstopped a predetermined time after said welt is cut.

3. In a welt sewing machine for attaching a length of welting from acontinuous supply to a partially fabricated shoe, said machine having astitch forming and thread tensioning mechanism, operator controlledstarting and stopping mechanism, and a welt cutting mechanism actuatableto sever the attached portion of the welt from the continuous supply,the improvement comprising an auxiliary machine stopping connections,means responsive to the operation of said welt cutting mechanism foractuating said auxiliary machine stopping connections, and meansassociated with said thread tensioning mechanism responsive to threadbreakage for actuating said auxiliary machine stopping connections.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 3 in which said welt cuttingmechanism actuates said auxiliary machine stopping connections throughtime delay means, and said means responsive to thread breakage actuatessaid auxiliary machine stopping connections directly.

5. In a welt sewing machine for attaching a length of welting from acontinuous supply to a partially fabricated shoe, said machine havingstarting and stopping mechanism, an operator controlled treadleconnected to said starting and stopping mechanism, and a welt cuttingmechanism actuatable to sever the attached portion of the welt from thecontinuous supply, the improvement comprising a mechanical togglelinkage interposed between the treadle means and the starting andstopping means, and means responsive to actuation of said welt cuttingmechanism for breaking said toggle linkage to actuate the machinestopping mechanism without the necessity of the operator releasing saidtreadle.

6. In a welt sewing machine for attaching a length of welting from acontinuous supply to an insole, said machine having stitch forming andthread tensioning mechanism, starting and stopping mechanism, anoperator controlled treadle means for actuating said starting andstopping mechanism, and a welt cutting mechanism actuatable to sever theattached portion of the Welt from the continuous supply, the improvementcomprising a mechanical toggle linkage interposed between the'treadleand speaeie the starting and stopping mechanism, means for breaking saidtoggle linkage to actuate the machine stopping mechanism, time delaymeans forenergizing said means for breaking said toggle linkagefmeansresponsive to actuation of said welt cutting mechanism for actuatingsaid time delay means, and other means associated with said threadtensioning mechanism responsive to thread breakage for energizing saidmeans for breaking said toggle linkage to actuate the machine stoppingmechanisms.

Reference-s flitd" in the file 6f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSept. '27, 1949 Schwartz -Apri1 6, 1954 Haas ..Ma'y 10, 1955 Carter -May12, 1959 Carter a 7 -'Aug. 25,1959

